National Security Council spokesman John Kirby brushed off Martha Raddatz’s situation about what she referred to as “truly scary” feedback on nuclear Armageddon that President Joe Biden made this week.
At a fundraiser this week, Biden mentioned:
Let me put it this fashion. Take into accounts it: We’ve got not confronted the chance of Armageddon for the reason that Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Concern. We’ve received a man I do know moderately well; his name is Vladimir Putin. I spent a good amount of time with him. He isn’t joking when he talks concerning the potential use of tactical and nuclear weapons, or biological or chemical weapons, as a result of his militia is, you may say, significantly underperforming.
It’s part of Russian doctrine that they’re going to not — they’ll now not — if the motherland is threatened, they’ll use whatever power they want, together with nuclear weapons.
I don’t assume there’s this kind of thing as a capability to easily lose a tactical nuclear weapon and no longer turn out with Armageddon.
So there’s a lot at stake — loads at stake.
On Sunday’s adaptation of ABC’s This Week, Raddatz kicked off her interview with Kirby by means of calling Biden’s remarks “very frightening” and asking him “used to be he proper?”
Kirby responded that Biden was “correctly reflecting” the placement, however brushed away issue about any accelerated posture and pointed the finger at Vladimir Putin, now not Biden, as the supply of “irresponsible rhetoric”:
RADDATZ: Let’s begin with President Biden’s comments saying we are facing the opportunity of a nuclear Armageddon. I know The White Home has stated these are in line with comments he has used prior to now but he’s never said anything else rather as stark as this. So, is the president right? Are we going through a potential nuclear Armageddon?
JOHN KIRBY, NSC COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: The president used to be reflecting the very high stakes which can be in — in play at the moment, Martha. In case you have a modern nuclear energy and the leader of that modern nuclear energy prepared to use irresponsible rhetoric the way in which that Mr. Putin has a number of instances in simply the remaining week or two, as well as the excessive tensions in Ukraine over just the route of the previous couple of days. So the president, I feel, was once safely reflecting the truth that the stakes are very high at the moment.
RADDATZ: And he gets a day-to-day intelligence briefing, defense force updates from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs so are the statements the result of what he has heard or his own conclusions, as a result of those had been actually horrifying comments?
KIRBY: His feedback weren’t in keeping with new or contemporary intelligence or new signs that Mr. Putin has decided to make use of nuclear weapons and, rather frankly, we don’t have indication that he has made that kind of resolution, Martha. Nor have we considered anything that may give us pause to reconsider our personal strategic nuclear posture in our efforts to shield our own nationwide security interests or these of our allies and partners.
What the president was reflecting was once that the stakes are high right now given what’s happening on the battlefield in Ukraine and given the very irresponsible and reckless comments made by way of Vladimir Putin in simply the previous few days.
Now, seem to be, he’s additionally said we’re now not going to be intimidated. Neither we nor our allies are going to be intimidated by way of this and we’re going to proceed to provide fortify and safety help to Ukraine as is essential.
Watch above via ABC’s This Week.
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